Photo Credit: BBC (2024)
by President Heidi R. Lewis
November 4, 2024
I write this blog from Colorado Springs, CO. Stolen land—the unceded territory of the Ute Peoples, to be precise—developed with stolen and exploited labor. I do so, because as my colleague Dr. Natanya Ann Pulley points out, acknowledgements are “more than identifying or recognizing someone or something. Acknowledging is also an act of honoring, blessing, celebrating, and thanking.”
I remember 2016. I think I always will.
I was all set for our annual conference in Montréal, which was set to begin just two days after the U.S. empire’s presidential election. I was sure Gary Johnson wouldn’t win. I was equally, if not more, certain about Jill Stein, Rocky De La Fuente, Gloria La Riva, and the other third party and independent candidates. I wasn’t as sure about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. For the longest time, I didn’t even think Trump would win the Republican party nomination. Then, he did. I honestly didn’t expect Clinton to win the Democratic party nomination over Bernie Sanders. Then, she did. There were times when I thought Trump would win the presidency and other times when I thought Clinton would. That uncertainty was triggered, in large part, by my experiences voting in four previous U.S. presidential elections.
George W. Bush, Al Gore, Pat Buchanan, Ralph Nader, and Others.
Yikes!
Bush, John Kerry, Nader, Michael Badnarik, and Others.
Yikes again, but no surprise there.
Barack Obama, John McCain, Nader, Bob Barr, and Others.
Surprise!
Obama, Mitt Romney, Johnson, Stein, and Others.
Easy.
As you can see, I’d only been certain about the results (and been right) twice. Ever since, I’ve allowed myself to have thoughts about possible outcomes, but I don’t trust them.
At some point, though, I convinced myself Clinton was going to win despite responses to her campaign seeming much more lukewarm than responses to Obama’s, especially his first but even his second. That lukewarmness was not so for the majority of white women I know professionally. So, I expected NWSA to be full of fierce Clinton champions wearing pink pussy hats, celebrating her victory, and situating it as a win for all women everywhere. Hence, I was ready to challenge the “I’m with Her” brigade all weekend and thereafter. After all, while my personal and professional bubbles are very distinct, the dominant discourse in both is, “Hold your nose, vote blue (no matter who), and push Democrats like hell throughout their terms!” Even if that’s not what people say (and most folks in my personal bubble do not), that’s what they typically do. So, my thinking was, “Okay, let’s do that—starting this weekend!” I was intrigued by her record of restoring voting rights for those who’d completed their sentences but angered by her refusing to admit racism impacted her support of the 1994 crime bill. I was excited by her plan to expand Obamacare but angered by her position on universal healthcare. I was willing to learn more about her position on a two-state solution and angered she didn’t support a freeze on Israeli settlements. I was thankful she committed to raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 but angered she didn’t go further. I was intrigued by her pledge to continue DACA and DAPA programs but angered by her commitment to building a border wall. The list, as always, goes on.
When I was of the other mind, thinking Trump would win, I expected the whole weekend to be full of sorrow and fear. He promised not to cut Medicaid or Social Security, and he promised six-week paid leaves. He also promised to repeal Obamacare. He promised to defund Planned Parenthood. He promised to approve Keystone XL. He promised to build a border wall he claimed he would force Mexico to fund. He promised to end birthright citizenship and deport all undocumented citizens. He promised to suspend immigration from places he deemed “terror-prone” and to establish a commission on “radical Islam.” He promised to dramatically scale back the EPA. He promised to eliminate gun-free zones at schools. That list, too, goes on.
Despite all my preparation and mental gymnastics, I didn’t make it to Montréal.
I live in Colorado, which has participated in every U.S. presidential election since its admission to statehood. That’s 37 presidents from Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 to Joe Biden in 2020. Of those 37 presidents, Colorado’s vote mirrored the electoral college vote 26 times. Of those 26 presidents, 16 were Republican, 10 were Democrats, and none were third party or independent. Colorado voted for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush twice, but voted for George H. W. Bush once. On top of that, Obama had Colorado’s vote for both of his terms. So, I didn’t know what to expect in 2016.
Clinton won Colorado with just over 48% of the votes. Trump earned just over 43%, but the response to his electoral victory told a slightly different story, at least in my neighborhood. The next day and the next, I saw more Trump flags and yard signs than I had during his entire campaign—huge ones, at that! My kids didn’t want to go to school, because several of their peers had been mimicking campaign rhetoric they’d likely heard at home, as children often do. “If Trump wins, we’re kicking you people out of our country!” “If Trump wins, no one’s gonna tell us we can’t have our guns!” “If Trump wins, we’re gonna kick every other country’s ass! We’re gonna drop so many bombs!” “If Trump wins, we’re gonna make America great again!” So I could comfort and encourage them and have some conversations about what a Trump presidency could mean, I canceled my trip to NWSA.
Seven years later, I was considering a run for NWSA President, and one thing gave me a lot of pause. I knew if I won, I’d be chairing my first conference not even two weeks after the U.S. empire’s next presidential election.
I was concerned about debates I knew folks would be having about whether or not any one person’s vote really counts.
Because my “we” always does.
I knew folks would debate about voting for the Democratic candidate, who many argue might be better than the Republican one domestically but just as bad internationally.
Because my “we” always does.
I knew folks would be debating whether or not anyone should vote for a third party or independent candidate who has little to no chance of winning, at least for now.
Because my “we” always does.
I knew those debates would be much more tense this year because of increased attention to U.S. complicity in genocide and occupation globally, as well as the candidates’ positions on Israel.
I was also concerned about what Association members might expect from me. I wondered, “Will they expect me to endorse Biden? Will they expect me to endorse a third party or independent candidate? Will they expect me to oppose Trump? If they’re aware that me doing any of those things could result in their membership dues being spent paying hefty IRS fines and attorney fees, will they want me to at least strongly encourage members to vote?”1 Then, I ran, got elected, and released a strategic plan in which I committed to publishing monthly blogs. Then, I saw I was scheduled to publish my ninth blog today, the day before the election. Then, Biden stepped aside and Kamala Harris became the Democratic party’s first woman of color candidate. Due to pressure I was feeling from all of that, I could have cried, vomited, or both. If I wasn’t so acutely aware of my power and privileges and the fact that I chose to run for President when I didn’t have to, I’d ask, “Why me?”
So, here I am. Here we are.
While they may seem obvious, what are some of my thoughts about Trump? Well, as President, he didn’t make cuts to Social Security. He did defund Planned Parenthood. He pretty much reversed Obama’s Cuba policy. He kept Guantanamo Bay open. He removed gender and sexuality questions from a national aging survey. He refused to add sexuality and transgender identity to a national disability survey. He signed an executive order banning citizens of six Muslim majority countries from traveling to the U.S. He signed another allocating federal funding for a border wall and another excluding sanctuary cities from receiving federal grants. He canceled the Paris climate agreement. In addition to recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the U.S. embassy there, he closed the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington and withdrew the U.S. from the Human Rights Council due to “a chronic bias against Israel.” He reinstated two sets of sanctions on Iran. He severed ties between the U.S. and the World Health Organization. Some experts claim the rehabilitation and recidivism programs outlined in the First Step Act aren’t working due to understaffing and underfunding. He reinstated the federal death penalty. Some experts claim the low unemployment rates for Black folks Trump champions are the result of a tight labor market rather than the effectiveness of his policies. Even Black folks with college degrees have fewer jobs than white folks. He routinely claims he saved HBCUs, but federal funding pretty much remained the same. Some experts claim his opportunity zones aren’t creating sustainable, long-term jobs as promised. Recently, he said he has “no regrets” that the U.S. Supreme Court justices he chose overturned Roe v. Wade. He also said Biden should let Israel “finish the job” and that Biden is “trying to hold” Benjamin Netanyahu back. And once again, the list goes on.
While they may also seem obvious, what are some of my thoughts about Harris? Well, unlike Trump, she served in the U.S. government long before becoming a major party’s nominee for President—seven years as a San Francisco District Attorney, six as Attorney General (CA), four as a Senator (CA), and (almost) four as Vice President. So, we have a longer record on which we can reflect. During that time, she championed education and job training programs for nonviolent first time drug offenders, and her office tried to block nonviolent offenders from being released when the Supreme Court ruled overcrowded prisons in California are unconstitutional. She took on predatory for-profit colleges and banks. She didn’t take a position on a California state law requiring independent investigations for police who kill civilians. Her office prosecuted almost 2,000 marijuana convictions, then she introduced the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act. Many parents were arrested and faced harsh penalties due to anti-truancy measures she supported and now regrets. She’s championed abortion rights. Some experts claim Central America Forward, her initiative meant to “slow the flow” of mass migration, may not be sustainable. She advocated for the John R. Lewis Act. Inflation is the highest it’s been in 40 years. Her campaign advertisements airing in Michigan quote her saying, “What has happened in Gaza over the last nine months is devastating...we cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering.” In Pennsylvania, her advertisements quote her saying, “Let me be clear. I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.” This list goes on, too. I would also be remiss not to recognize that Harris has undoubtedly experienced pronounced racism and sexism, which I’m certain has resulted in her being scrutinized in ways Biden and Trump would likely never be. That, however, should not excuse her from being “pushed like hell,” if we’re still committed to that.
And what about my thoughts on Jill Stein, Chase Oliver, Claudia De la Cruz, and the other third party and independent candidates? Well, I am deeply intrigued by many of their positions on labor, healthcare, immigration, housing, the environment, abortion, war, education, and other issues. I also look forward to paying more attention to the ways they do their work in other capacities, because I’m almost certain none of them will win, at least not this year. For that reason, I know I’m at least part of the problem where the power of the U.S. two party system is concerned.
But I also know I’ll probably never stop reading, listening, learning, and doing my best to seriously consider all possibilities, even those that seem impossible. After all, intellectuals in this field taught me to think and act as radically as possible. They also taught me the importance of thinking and acting practically. They taught me that a commitment to survival for one might mean certain death for another. They taught me that oppressed people will likely never agree completely on what resistance, let alone revolution, should be. They taught me that our connected struggles should be at the forefront of our commitments to understanding, navigating, and resisting subjugation and oppression.
And no matter what happens tomorrow, I know but one thing for sure...I’ll always remember 2024.
I take that back. I know one other thing. If you’re anything like me, you probably think that ending was too abrupt. But as Li’l Wayne often says, “That’s it, shawty.” Let’s get to work.
1 Per the IRS, “a section 501(c)(3) organization may not publish or distribute printed statements or make oral statements on behalf of, or in opposition to, a candidate for public office. Consequently, a written or oral endorsement of a candidate is strictly forbidden.”
Per my strategic plan, “Reconnect, Repair, Restore: A More Thoughtful, Transparent, and Trustworthy NWSA,” my President’s blogs aim to give members a chance to get to know me and generate excitement about our upcoming conference. This one does both and is congruent with one of our presidential sessions, “Harnessing the Power and Fragility of Social Media: Coalition Building, Mobilization, and Electoral Politics,” that will be facilitated by Member-at-Large Latoya Lee and that will feature Christina Boyles, Piper Carter, and Chantel Watkins. Hope to see you in Detroit.